How Love Changes the World

Every January, we celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day. We remember his famous "I Have a Dream" speech. We honor his sacrifice. We acknowledge the civil rights he fought for.

But do we understand how he actually changed the world?

It wasn't through force. It wasn't through violence. It wasn't even primarily through legislation, though laws eventually changed.

Martin Luther King Jr. changed the world the same way the early Christians changed the world. The same way slaves throughout history have undermined slavery. The same way the powerless have always gained power.

Through love. Through peace. Through what looks like weakness but is actually the most powerful force in the universe.

Let me show you what I mean.

The World's Way vs. God's Way

The world operates on a simple principle: Power flows downward. The strong dominate the weak. The one with the most force wins. If you want peace, you enforce it through strength.

The Romans called it Pax Romana—Roman peace. And how did they achieve it? By killing anybody who dared to rise up against them.

That "peace" didn't last, did it? Because it wasn't real peace. It was forced compliance. It was domination masquerading as order.

That's not shalom. Shalom is nothing missing, nothing broken. Real peace doesn't come from breaking people and making them do it your way.

Jesus introduced an entirely different operating system. He said, "If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over" (John 18:36, NRSV). He told Peter, "Put your sword back into its place; for all who take the sword will perish by the sword" (Matthew 26:52, NRSV).

Why? Because when you operate in the world's systems—when you use force, violence, domination—you only empower the darkness.

The Kingdom operates differently. In God's Kingdom, you transform the world from the inside out. You change hearts, not just behavior. You win people, not just battles.

And the only thing powerful enough to do that is love.

How Slaves Defeated Slavery

Here's something most people don't realize: The gospel is what actually ended slavery.

Not violence. Not slave revolts. Not even primarily political movements.

It was the gospel—the good news of God's Kingdom—that slowly, steadily, relentlessly undermined the entire institution of slavery.

How?

When Paul wrote to slaves in the first century, he didn't tell them to revolt. He didn't tell them to fight their masters. Instead, he gave them revolutionary instructions:

"Slaves, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, in singleness of heart, as you obey Christ; not only while being watched, and in order to please them, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart. Render service with enthusiasm, as to the Lord and not to men and women" (Ephesians 6:5-7, NRSV).

Wait—what? Serve your masters as if you were serving Christ? Go beyond what they require? Do it with enthusiasm?

That seems like endorsing slavery, doesn't it?

But here's what Paul was actually doing: He was teaching them how to subvert the entire system from within.

You see, when a slave is forced to work, they're operating in the world's power structure. The master has power; the slave has none. The master commands; the slave must obey or face punishment.

But when that slave chooses—of their own free will—to not just obey but to serve with excellence, to go the extra mile, to do it as unto the Lord, everything changes.

Suddenly, they're not operating out of forced compliance. They're operating out of love. Out of choice. Out of Kingdom power.

And you can't control love. You can't force it. You can't dominate it.

Love transforms hearts. And when hearts are transformed, entire systems crumble.

The Kingdom Is Like Leaven

Jesus said the Kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and mixed into three measures of flour "until all of it was leavened" (Matthew 13:33, NRSV).

Leaven works slowly. You can't see it happening at first. But it permeates. It transforms. Eventually, the whole lump is changed.

That's what love does. That's what submission does. That's what yielding does.

When Christian slaves throughout the Roman Empire chose to serve their masters with love, when they chose to honor even cruel authorities, when they chose to go the extra mile and turn the other cheek, something powerful happened.

The masters' hearts began to soften. They began to see their slaves as fully human. They began to question the entire institution.

And slowly, over generations, the Christian worldview that said "there is no longer slave or free... for all of you are one in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:28, NRSV) began to permeate culture.

Eventually, slavery became illegal in the Christian world. Not because slaves took power by force, but because love transformed the hearts of those who held power.

Sit-Ins and Fire Hoses

Fast forward to the 1960s in America. Segregation was the law of the land. Discrimination based on race was legal. Black Americans faced systemic oppression at every turn.

Some wanted to fight. Some wanted to riot. Some wanted to throw rocks and burn buildings.

But Martin Luther King Jr. said, "No."

He taught nonviolent resistance. He told his followers: Don't throw rocks. Don't fight back. When they beat you, don't retaliate. When they turn fire hoses on you, stand firm. When they arrest you, go peacefully.

Operate in love and peace, even toward those who persecute you.

And you know what happened? The news cameras captured it all. The world watched as peaceful protesters—men, women, even children—sat in silent dignity while police beat them. While dogs were turned loose on them. While fire hoses knocked them off their feet.

And the hearts of white Americans began to change.

They began to become outraged—not at the protesters, but at the oppressors. They began to see the injustice. They began to feel compassion. They began to want change.

The ones who held the power began to want to share it.

Why? Not because anyone forced them. Not because protesters took power by violence. But because love touched their hearts. Because peace transformed them from the inside out.

Within a few years, the Civil Rights Act passed. Discrimination based on race became illegal.

Love won.

You Can't Demand Equality

Here's what I've learned, both from history and from my own life: You can't demand equality. You can't force people to honor you. You can't take power from those who hold it.

Women can't demand equality from men. We can't demand equal pay. We can't demand that men help at home.

The men have to want to yield. The ones in power have to want to share it.

And that doesn't happen through force. It only happens through peace. It only happens through love.

I lived for 20 years in a traditional marriage rooted in hierarchy. I was often pressured through emotional or physical intimidation to do my former husband's will. When you live in a home like that, you don't want to upset the "powerful one." So you and your children are constantly walking on eggshells, praying one of them doesn't crack and make him mad.

I served in a large marriage ministry devoted to traditional teaching on submission and headship. I hoped that by submitting, by pouring into other marriages, I could transform my own.

But you can't force transformation. You can't make someone choose love. God Himself won't force His will on another.

Today, I'm married to Gregory—a man who embodies Kingdom masculinity. He's six feet tall with shoulders that seem nearly as wide. He was raised in a rough area and wouldn't be afraid to fight to defend those weaker than him—which includes me.

That power has never once been used to intimidate me to get his own way. Never even an insinuation of force. Not physically. Not financially. Not emotionally. Not once. Ever.

Why? Because Gregory understands that real power—Kingdom power—is used to lift up, not to control. To serve, not to dominate. To empower, not to suppress.

He chooses to yield to me. He chooses to honor me. He chooses mutual submission.

And that creates in me a desire to do the same in return. His love helps me to love better. I'm a better person and better wife for having Gregory love me like he does.

This is what Paul was describing in Ephesians 5. The husband's Christ-like love inspires the wife's respect and submission; the wife's respect and submission inspire the husband's deeper love. It's not a hierarchy but a dance of mutual honor that elevates both partners.

Changing the World from Your Kitchen

You might be thinking, "That's great, Susan, but I'm not Martin Luther King Jr. I'm not going to change civil rights laws. I'm just trying to get through my day."

I get it. But here's the thing: You change the world from your kitchen. From your living room. From your workplace. From your everyday interactions.

Every time you choose love over selfishness, you release God's Kingdom.

Every time you go the extra mile when you could just do the minimum, you transform culture.

Every time you honor someone who doesn't deserve it, you plant seeds that will grow into justice.

Gregory has to release peace every time I leave dishes in the sink. That's his pet peeve. I try to walk in honor and remember, but when I don't, he never gets mad. He just puts them in the dishwasher.

And because he responds that way in love, what do I want to do the next time? I want to put them away to honor him.

It becomes reciprocal. It multiplies. It creates this circular flow of honor and love.

That's how you change the world. Not through grand gestures, but through small, daily choices to operate in God's Kingdom rather than the world's system.

We cultivate mutual honor, mutual love, mutual respect. And it happens in the smallest of things. It's the little foxes that spoil the vine (Song of Solomon 2:15, NKJV).

What's Your Choice?

So here's my question for you: Which kingdom are you operating in?

Are you demanding your own way? Or are you releasing peace?

Are you trying to force compliance? Or are you transforming hearts?

Are you using whatever power you have to control? Or are you using it to serve?

The world says: Fight for your rights. Demand what you deserve. Take power from those who have it. Make them do it your way.

God's Kingdom says: Love your enemies. Pray for those who persecute you. Go the extra mile. Turn the other cheek. Release peace. Serve with excellence.

And watch as hearts are transformed. Watch as systems crumble. Watch as love changes the world from the inside out.

This is how slavery ended. This is how civil rights were won. This is how women will experience true equality. This is how broken marriages are healed. This is how toxic workplaces are transformed. This is how the kingdoms of this world become the Kingdom of our Lord.

Not through force. Through love.

Not through violence. Through peace.

Not through taking power. Through transforming hearts.

The Price and the Prize

I won't lie to you: This way is costly. Martin Luther King Jr. paid for it with his life. Countless slaves endured unimaginable suffering. I walked through 20 difficult years before I was released.

Love sometimes requires sacrifice. Peace doesn't mean the absence of suffering.

But here's what I know: It works. It's the only thing that truly changes the world.

And the prize is worth the price.

Today, I live in such peace with Gregory that people walk into our home and feel it tangibly. The peace we cultivated through all those hard years—his 23 years of waiting, my 20 years of honoring in difficulty—exploded when we came together.

Today, discrimination based on race and gender is illegal in America. The seeds planted by King and countless others bore fruit.

Today, wherever the gospel has truly taken root, slavery has ended, women's dignity has increased, and mutual honor has begun to replace domination.

Love is changing the world. Slowly. Steadily. Relentlessly.

The question is: Will you join the revolution?

Will you release peace instead of demanding your way? Will you go the extra mile instead of just doing the minimum? Will you honor even when it's not deserved? Will you serve even when you could command?

Will you trust that God's way—the way of love, the way of peace, the way of the Kingdom—is more powerful than all the force in the world?

I'm inviting you to try it. To live it. To watch what happens when you stop operating in the world's system and start releasing God's Kingdom into every environment you enter.

It changed my world. It changed history. And it can change yours.

Welcome to the revolution—the one that changes the world from the inside out, one act of love at a time.

Blessings,
Susan 😊